Cuba Libre

Not your standard rum’n'coke, a properly made Cuba Libre has fresh ingredients, fine booze and balance. Indeed, it is a refreshing drink to be sipped and enjoyed, not just another alcohol-delivery mechanism for teenagers.

As with any good drink, nobody is sure how the name came about. There is no denying that Cuba Libre! was a popular expression both during and after Fidel Castro’s communist revolution. Some say that the name is derived from its two main ingredients, Cuba referring to the rum and Libre (or Free) referring to the American Coca-Cola.

Either way, the ingredient everyone always forgets, and that elevates a proper Cuba Libre beyond being just another common drink, is Lime juice. Just a little, in combination with respecting the proportions of rum-to-Coke, goes a long way. Once you’ve tried it properly made, you won’t go back.

Also, you should use a gold or dark rum for this. The flavour of a light rum won’t really make it through the Coke. Cuban rum is always more authentic, but one of my rum taste-tests is always the Cuba-Libre so I’ll try anything. For a good dark Cuban rum, try Havana Club 7-year-old, or Matusalén. The original was probably made with Bacardi, and even though Bacardi is no longer cuban, their 8-year-old is also nice.

Finally, use classic Coke. All the other varieties (especially Diet Coke) taste strange and not what you’re after at all.

This has been the final installment in cuban classics but for the next few days I’ll probably keep writing about summer standards. Stay tuned!

Recipe:

2 oz. gold or dark Rum
1/2 oz. Lime juice
6 oz. Coca-Cola

Rub the rim of a tall glass with the peel of a lime wedge. Fill it with ice, and pour in the rum followed by the Coke. Squeeze in the juice from a couple of lime wedges, and drop one into the glass.

Notes:

There isn’t really much to say, except that I recommend you try many different rums. But maybe not all of them on the same day… Also, you can vary the proportions to your liking, but try not to make the drink too strong or too weak, it will lose character.

Some recipes for the Cuba Libre include Gin, although I don’t know where that idea came from. You can try it if you like, about half as much gin as rum, it’s not unpleasant.

Rating:

- Well made, it’s always a great drink.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 at 6:12 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.